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Jobless claims total 340,000, lowest level since early days of pandemic

First-time jobless claims totaled 340,000 for the week ended Aug. 28, compared with the 345,000 Dow Jones estimate. That is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020, when first-time claims totaled 256,000, just before the coronavirus pandemic caused a historic rush to unemployment benefits.

The level of initial claims for the week ended Aug. 21 was revised up by 1,000, to 354,000.

The level of continuing claims, the measure of ongoing benefits, was 2.75 million, a decrease of 160,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The decrease in the number of continuing claims also represents the lowest level for insured unemployment since the Covid era began.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs across all states for the week ending Aug. 14 was 12.19 million, an increase of 178,526 from the previous week. There were 29.75 million weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.